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Description:

Program Overview:

The Medical College of Wisconsin Advanced GI MIS and Bariatric Fellowship Program provides a variety of outstanding training opportunities. Our shared program goal is to provide our fellow with:

(1) exceptional operative and technical skill development and evidence-based clinical care aquisition in minimaly invasive approaches to bariatric, foregut, and hernia surgery.

(2) academic research opportunities that contribute to the advancement, quality, and safety of the field of minimally invasive bariatric, foregut, and hernia surgery. 

(3) professional developement as an educator and teacher of minimally invasive bariatric, foregut and hernia surgery to residents, students, staff and public.

We expect that on completion of our fellowship training our fellow will possess the tools to be an outstanding minimally invasive surgeon and a future academic leader.  

The MCW fellowship offers a true academic experience and our fellows successfully transition to specialty-specific practices as surgeons advancing the field of minimally invasive surgery and bariatrics.

Clinical Experience:

We have high patient volumes and high complexity cases in a variety of clinical areas from 6 faculty memebers in the Division of Gastrointestinal and Minimally Invasive Surgery. These include minimally invasive foregut procedures (antireflux surgery, reoperative foregut surgery, paraesophageal hernia repair, Heller myotomy, POEM, POP, motility including Endoflip, etc.), laparoscopic and robotic bariatric surgery (Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, and complex revisions), and laparoscopic and robotic hernia repair (abdominal wall reconstruction, ventral hernia, flank hernia, and inguinal hernia repairs). Opportunities also exist for a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic procedures. There is NO general surgery call or Trauma call required.

Given the high volume of cases, fellows have the opportunity to tailor the case and clinic distribution to fit their career goals.  The fellow will also participate in multidisciplinary clinical conferences related to bariatric patients, complex foregut patients, and complex hernia patients. 

Faculty: Our faculty include Dr. Andrew Kastenmeier, Dr. Tammy Kindel, Dr. Jon Gould, Dr. Matthew Goldblatt, Dr. Rana Higgins, Dr. Kate Lak, Dr. Wen Hui Tan, and Dr. Amir Ghaferi. Our faculty have developed busy clinic practices, but also maintain productive research efforts as well as a commitment to surgical education.  Our faculty hold a variety of education leadership positions in the medical school as well as the residency program. We also hold a variety of national leadership positions in the realms of minimally invasive surgery, hernia surgery, surgical education, foregut surgery, endoscopy, and bariatric surgery. Dr. Andrew Kastenmeier is the Fellowship Program Director. He completed his Minimally Invasive Fellowship at Legacy in Portland, OR in 2011. He specializes in minimally invasive foregut surgery, hernia surgery, complex abdominal wall reconstruction, advanced therapeutic endoscopy, and surgical education. His research focus includes the clinical outcomes in foregut and hernia surgery, and surgical education research. Dr. Tammy Kindel is the Fellowship Associate Program Director. She completed her Bariatric and Minimally Invasive Surgery fellowship at Nebraska in 2015. She earned a PhD from the University of Cincinnati in molecular medicine. She directs the MBSAQIP accredited bariatric surgery program, including adolescent bariatric surgery, and has a NIH-funded translational science lab dedicated to metabolic surgery research. Dr. Jon Gould, the Chief of Gastrointestinal and Minimally Invasive Surgery Division, completed his Minimally Invasive Fellowship at Ohio State in 2002. His clinical practice is focused on complex minimally invasive foregut and bariatric surgery. His research focus is on surgical quality, clinical outcomes in foregut surgery, and device development/new surgical technology. He also serves as the Assoicate Chief Quality and Safety Officer for the entire hospital system. Dr. Goldblatt completed his Minimally Invasive Fellowship at the Ohio State University in 2005. He specializes in hernia surgery, complex abdominal wall reconstruction, foregut surgery, robotics and endoscopy. He is the Director of the Condon Hernia Institute. He is involved in research related to hernia repair, abdominal wall reconstruction, and hernia mesh assessment. Dr. Rana Higgins completed her fellowship training at the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2016 and was brought on as faculty. Her clinical focus is robotic surgery, bariatric surgery, foregut surgery, hernia surgery, and general surgery. She has instituted a robotic surgery curriculum for our fellows and residents. Dr. Higgins is the program director for the general surgery residency program at MCW. Dr. Kate Lak completed her fellowship training in Advanced GI MIS and Bariatric Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2017 and was brought on as faculty. Her clinical focus is bariatric surgery, foregut surgery, robotic surgery, hernia surgery, and general surgery. Dr. Amir Ghaferi is a Professor of Surgery with Tenure and serves as the President and CEO of the Physician Enterprise as well as the Senior Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs for MCW. His clinical focus is bariatric surgery and hernia surgery. Dr. Wen Hui Tan completed her fellowship training in Advanced GI MIS and Bariatric Surgery at MCW in 2022. Her clinical practice and research efforts are focused on hernia repair and abdominal wall reconstruction wiht an emphasis on robotic surgery. She also has a bariatric and foregut surgery clinical practice. Dr. Tan is also the Associate Program Director of Skills and Simulation for the general surgery residency program. 

Research:

The fellow will be engaged in clinical research, surgical quality research, and/or surgical education research. It is expected that the fellow travel to present his/her research at one or more national meeting(s). The Division of Minimally Invasive and Gastrointestinal Surgery Research Program is structured to facilitate the research initiatives and provides outstanding support to the fellow. Our research support includes engaged faculty mentorship, dedicated research coordinators, and statisticians who are available to assist the fellow with research endeavors. As part of the Medical College of Wisconsin, our division currently performs collaborative research with the Clinical and Translational Research Institute of Southeastern Wisconsin (CTSI), MCW Cardiovascular Center, and Children's Research Institue. Wet and dry labs are provided through the Biomedical Research Center.  Current research projects include: (1) microbiome mediated mechanisms for cardiovascular disease improvement after bariatric surgery (basic science and clinical), (2) social determinants of health related to bariatric surgery outcomes, (3) robotic curriculum and education development for residents, (4) hospital and statewide surgical quality improvement, and (5) hernia and new device-related clinical trials. Our faculty members have society and NIH-research funding as well as participate in industry-sponsored tirals. We have 4 active animal protocols and 52 active IRB protocols for investigator-initiated studies and clinical trails. 

Education:

As a part of the Medical College of Wisconsin, the MIS/Bariatric Fellow will be a part of all that a teaching hospital has to offer including working with general surgery residents, medical students and advanced practice providers  who will assist with the care of your patients. You will also have the opportunity to teach and guide both residents and medical students through their rotation. 

Additionally, our fellowship program offers teaching and education opportunities. This includes medical student education, resident education, community education, and CME for practicing surgeons as a member of the teaching faculty at educational surgical symposia sponsored by our institution.

Basic Program Information:

• Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Primary Program Site: Medical College of Wisconsin
• Primary Hospital: Total bed size, # OR's, # Surgical ICU beds: Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital
• Secondary Program Site:
• Secondary Hospital: Total bed size, # OR's, # Surgical ICU beds:
• Clinic locations and schedule:

  Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, Center for Advanced Care (GI/MIS), Specialties Clinic Building (Comprehensive Weight Loss Program)

• University Affiliation:
• School of Medicine Affiliation: Medical College of Wisconsin
• Year Program and/or Designation Established: 2003
• Number of Faculty: 8
• % of Program Clinical: 80
• % of Program Research: 20

Additional Program Information:

• Interaction with Residents: Some cases shared
• Is there a General Surgery Residency at the Primary Institution? Yes
• Is there a General Surgery Residency at the Secondary Institution? No
• Is there a curriculum in place for fellowship? Yes
• Is there a skills lab at the institution with fellow access? Yes
• Are there teaching conferences available for the fellow? Yes
• Is there an evaluation tool for fellow by faculty in place? Yes
• Is there an evaluation tool for faculty by fellow in place? Yes
• Papers Accepted For Publication where PD was an author: 28
• Publications that Involved Input from the Fellow: 10
• Are funds available for the Fellow to attend conferences? No

Malpractice Insurance Information:

• The fellow(s) is also required to have attending privileges (insurance coverage must also include all activities for their work while they act as a fellow and an attending) and the program provides the following:
  
  Occurrence-based malpractice coverage

Contact Information For Questions:

Keri Blaszczynski
Phone: 414-955-1769
Fax: 414-955-0085
Email: [email protected]
Web: https://www.mcw.edu/departments/surgery/divisions/minimally-invasive-and-gastrointestinal-surgery

Facilities

Dry Lab
Wet lab
Library
Administrative Support
Basic Science Research
Clinical Research
Simulation Lab